RAW image editor merges the best parts of Photoshop and Lightroom

Image pros that work with RAW photos must often switch back and forth between Lightroom and Photoshop, first to adjust the look and then to do any layering or cleanup. FXhome, the company behind the YouTuber VFX program HitFilm, has just launched a $149 app called Imerge Pro that helps you avoid that juggling. It's "the world's first non-destructive RAW image compositor," the company claims, enabling you to load up your RAW photos and do all those chores in one app.

So what does an image compositor do? Imerge Pro has a built-in chroma-key system, so if you photograph your talent against a green screen, you can later insert them into any background you want. It will also cleanup any green "spill" and sharpen fine details like fabric, foliage and hair.

At the same time, you can color correct both your foreground and background layers with a range of 38 filters like clarity, dehaze and color correction. All changes are made non-destructively, so nothing is permanently baked into the image. That makes for an easier workflow and better final image quality.

Imerge Pro always works in full 16-bit linear color, so it can theoretically handle the most detailed RAW files you can throw at it. It also supports multi-core processing and GPU acceleration, so heavy, high-resolution files shouldn't slow you down much. If you have a lot of images to adjust, there's a batch tool that can churn through them while letting you easily change settings.

It won't have nearly the same depth and power as Photoshop or Lightroom, but the company said it can handle many typical chores and is a lot easier to learn. It's now available on the FXhome store for $149 -- no subscription necessary -- which gives you a license for both Windows 10 and macOS.